Latest LIVE: State presidents urge Rahul Gandhi to take Congress leadership

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan witnessed light to moderate rainfall, while Himachal Pradesh received a fresh yellow weather warning

1:51 AM

UK looking to drop 'Facebook tax' in favour of post-Brexit deal: Report

British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak plans to drop a tax on technology companies such as Facebook and Google because it does not raise much money and could hurt a push for a US trade deal, The Mail on Sunday reported.
 

Britain introduced the digital services tax in April after slow progress in global negotiations over how to tax tech giants, many of which are US companies.

The tax is expected to raise about £500 million ($654 million) a year for Britain's public finances.

1:50 AM

Miner finds a rare 442-carat diamond that may be worth $18 million

A small diamond miner that has dug some of the world’s most valuable gems from a mountainous African kingdom has found another huge stone.

 

Gem Diamonds Ltd. said Friday it had an unearthed a 442-carat diamond at its Letseng mine in Lesotho. While it’s hard to establish a price for such stones before cutters can evaluate them, it could sell for as much as $18 million, Edward Sterck, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note.

1:50 AM

With cases at four-month high, South Korea warns of 'massive' Covid risk

The South Korean government is studying the need to raise social-distancing restrictions to the highest level as officials warn the country is at the risk of a “massive nationwide outbreak.”

 

An additional 397 new virus cases were reported on Sunday, the highest number since March 7. A quarter of those cases were reported outside of Seoul’s metropolitan area. Infections have exceeded 300 for three days.

 

“Cases are rising in 17 cities and provinces across the nation, and we are now at the verge of a massive nationwide outbreak,” Jung Eun-kyeong, head of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a briefing on Sunday.

10:57 PM

Will accept Trump win, but will also shout against his initiatives: US Speaker Pelosi

9:02 PM

Indian Railways to make Char Dham Yatra easy for crores of devotees: Piyush Goyal

The Indian Railways is working on a much-awaited project to connect the Char Dham sites in Uttarakhand through a 327-km-long railway line.
 

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, taking to Twitter, announced that the Indian Railways is going to make the Char Dham Yatra easy for crores of devotees.

8:57 PM

No power can save Congress from sinking: MP CM Chouhan

8:46 PM

Bihar flood: No fresh areas inundated, 8.36 million people affected

The flood situation in Bihar remained grim in Bihar where over 8.36 million people across 16 districts were affected on Sunday, while no new areas were hit by the calamity in the past 24 hours, the Disaster Management Department said.
 

The department's bulletin reported the same figures it had done on Saturday, saying that altogether 83,62,451 people were reeling under the impact of the deluge in 1,333 panchayats of 130 blocks.
 

Flood-related deaths also remained unchanged at 27.

8:33 PM

16 gates of Mahi Dam in Banswara have been opened, following heavy rains in the region

8:18 PM

Don't let development projects get stalled: J-K LG to officers

Taking strong note of delays in the completion of some works, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday directed the officers concerned to ensure that the projects do not remain languishing unnecessarily.
 

"The people of J&K have set the bar of expectations from the government very high, so make sure that all the projects are completed within the stipulated time frame to fulfil their developmental aspirations," Sinha said chairing a high-level meeting here.
 

In order to give fillip to pace of work on various mega projects, LG Sinha took a comprehensive review of the progress on important development projects of the Jammu division in the meeting.

8:03 PM

It is for Rahul Gandhi to decide to come back as party president: Salman Khurshid

7:38 PM

Give the responsibility of Congress President to Rahul Gandhi: Assam Congress president

7:20 PM

Rahul Gandhi should lead the Congress: Maharashtra Congress president

7:08 PM

Police, administration in West Bengal politically committed: Guv

Firing a fresh salvo at the Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday alleged that the police and administration in the state are "politically committed", sounding the "death knell" of democracy.
 

Dhankhar, in a series of tweets, also described the law and order situation in West Bengal as alarming, with reports of "free run to illegal bomb making".
 

"Urge CM to unshackle political caging/chaining of police and administration.... This menacing stance of police and administration would generate consequences," the governor said.

6:58 PM

Nadda tells Rajasthan BJP to expose 'useless' Gehlot govt

BJP President J.P. Nadda dubbed the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan as "useless and indolent" on Sunday during a virtual addresses to the party's Rajasthan unit.
 

"The Gehlot government of Rajasthan has proved to be an inefficient government on every front. It is a government that has betrayed the public rather than provide relief to the people. The Chief Minister has done nothing but play politics," alleged Nadda during his address to Rajasthan's BJP office bearers.
 

He also targeted the Congress government for allegedly failing in curbing crime. "Rajasthan has recorded more than 3.83 lakh cases of crime in a year, which is 80 per cent more than the previous year. Similarly, there has been an increase of 122 per cent in the case of female oppression, 92 per cent rise in cases of Dalit oppression and 101 per cent rise in the case of oppression against tribals as compared to the previous year," charged the BJP chief.

6:46 PM

Neeraj and Siddharth Pithani leave from Sushant Singh Rajput's residence along with CBI team

6:24 PM

After micro loans, housing finance to be next key focus for Bandhan: MD

Having stabilised the ship after some reverses on its flagship micro loans due to demonetisation and the humbling experience with large corporate exposures, Bandhan Bank now wants to focus on the home loan segment, a top executive has said.
 

The housing finance book is targeted to grow five times to Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years from the present level of nearly Rs 20,000 crore, its chief executive and managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh told PTI.
 

Ghosh, who has been heading Bandhan since its days as a microlender, termed the bank's biggest setbacks regulatory wrath for high promoter ownership and also the exposure to failed infra lender IL&FS - as "learnings".

6:04 PM

Issues required to be addressed can be addressed under Sonia Gandhi's leadership: Ashwani Kumar

5:53 PM

Attorney General of India KK Venugopal declines request to initiate contempt proceedings against actor Swara Bhaskar

5:38 PM

Chhattisgarh CM writes to Rahul Gandhi requesting him to take charge as Congress president

5:17 PM

Day after, Bloomsbury faces the heat as authors dissociate

With top leaders of the ruling BJP siding with the author of 'Delhi Riots 2020 - The untold Story', the book withdrawn by the publishing house on Saturday, a string of authors ranging from government's Principal Economic Adviser to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Professors to top IAS officers have decided to snap their association with Bloomsbury.
 

BJP General Secretaries Bhupender Yadav, who was part of the virtual pre-book launch that created the row, and P Muralidhar Rao, BJP's Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy, the party's National Secretary Y Satya Kumar, party MP and national President of SC Wing Vinod Sonkar, BJP Spokesperson Suresh Nakhua, BJP leaders came out against the decision of Bloomsbury, which has now started to feel the ripple effect of the announcement of boycotts from authors.
 

Sanjeev Sanyal, who is the Principal Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance, has announced his commitment to "never publish" a book with the publication. The powerful voice has announced on Twitter: "I have not read the book in question and have no idea if it is good or bad. However, this is obviously not a quality control problem but about censorship."

5:02 PM

Uttarakhand: ITBP jawans carry injured woman for 15 hours on foot to nearest hospital

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans on Saturday rescued an injured woman in a remote Uttrakhand village, carrying her on a stretcher for 15 hours through flooded drains, landslide zone areas, and slippery slopes to reach a distant road 40 kilometres ahead from where she was eventually evacuated to a hospital.
 

According to the force, a total of 25 jawans were part of the team which rescued the woman from the remote village of Laspa of Munsyari division in Pithoragarh district, which has been affected badly by monsoons this year.
 

"In a great effort, the personnel of the 14th Battalion of the ITBP braved all odds to rescue an injured local woman and take her to the nearest road, facing all hardships in a bad monsoon hit area. The woman had earlier fallen accidentally from a hillside near a remote village in Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand," it added.

4:47 PM

Rs 8,000 crore have been sanctioned by Nitin Gadkari for Gwalior-Chambal Expressway: BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindhia

4:36 PM

Large quantity of explosives, ISIS flag recovered from house of arrested ISIS operative: Police

The Delhi Police has recovered a large quantity of explosives and an ISIS flag from the house of Mohammad Mustakim Khan in Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh two days after he was arrested in the national capital, officials said on Sunday.
 

An alleged ISIS operative, Khan, armed with two pressure cooker IEDs, was arrested from central Delhi's Ridge Road area on Friday night following a brief exchange of fire.
 

A Delhi Police Special Cell team took him to his Badhiyaa Bhaisaahi village in Uttar Pradesh's Balrampur district.

4:26 PM

People cross a bridge as the water of Shilabati river flows over it in West Bengal's Bankura district

4:05 PM

India rejects China's suggestion of "equidistant disengagement" from Finger area in Ladakh

3:55 PM

CBI questions Sushant's friend, house helps, visits his flat

CBI sleuths on Sunday questioned actor Sushant Singh Rajput's friend Siddharth Pithani, cook Neeraj Singh and domestic help Deepesh Sawant at the DRDO guest house here in connection with his death case and later visited the actor's flat in Bandra along with them, an official said.
 

In the morning, Pithani, Neeraj and Sawant arrived separately at the DRDO guest house in Kalina are of Santcaruz, where the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) officials probing the case are staying, an official said.
 

These three persons, who were present in the flat when Rajput (34) was found hanging in his room on June 14, were questioned for about five hours following which the CBI sleuths took them to the late actor's residence at Mont Blanc Apartments in suburban Bandra around 2.45 pm, he said.

3:33 PM

Rlys earned Rs 561 cr from ticketless travellers in 2019-20, revenue up by 38 pc in last 4 yrs

More than one crore passengers were fined for travelling without a ticket in 2019-20, earning the Railways a revenue of Rs 561.73 crore -- a growth of around 6 per cent over 2018-2019, an RTI application has found.
 

The Railways has earned Rs 1,938 crore through fines imposed on ticketless travellers between 2016-2020, a rise of 38.57 per cent from 2016.
 

An RTI application filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur revealed the details.

3:15 PM

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to PM for deferment of JEE, NEET

2:55 PM

Delhi govt launches campaign for registration of construction workers from Monday

The Delhi government will launch a 15-day-long campaign starting Monday for registration of construction workers in all the 70 assembly constituencies in the city.
 

Delhi's Labour and Employment Minister Gopal Rai said the construction workers may apply to get registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board at these camps from August 24 to September 11.
 

If proper documents are furnished, the process of registration and verification will be completed on the spot, he said.

 

2:40 PM

Rainwater enters houses in several areas of Gujarat's Patan district following heavy rainfall